Former Penn State swimmer Shane Ryan set an Irish record Wednesday in the 50-meter backstroke to earn gold, while current Nittany Lions swimmer Ally McHugh captured silver in the 800-meter medley relay during the World University Games.

Ryan clocked a time of 24.72 seconds to place first, while McHugh’s U.S. team fell to Russia by four-hundredths of a second in the finals.

McHugh already won silver in the 400-meter IM on Sunday by finishing with a time of 4 minutes, 40.22 seconds. Ryan placed fourth in the 100-meter backstroke Monday with a 54.35.

Ryan will also swim in the preliminary heat of the 400-meter medley relay on Friday.

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Germany, PSU soph. qualify for U-20 Cup

BELFAST, Northern Ireland Penn State sophomore Laura Freigang, who is currently competing for Germany, watched her team recently qualify for the 2018 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup.

The Cup will be held in France from Aug. 7-26 in 2018. Freigang and Germany qualified after reaching the semifinal round of the 2017 UEFA European Women’s Under-19 Championship.

“Playing for my country was a great honor,” Freigang said in a statement. “Overall, I think we played a good tournament and it was an awesome experience. I am very excited to be back at Penn State and cannot wait to start training and playing with the team.”